World markets were in retreat once more yesterday as concerns about the state of the global economy dominated sentiment despite a coordinated rate cut by top central banks aimed at shoring up confidence in the world's crisis-stricken financial system.

In the U.S., the Dow sank 189.01 points to 9,258.10. The index has lost 35 percent from the closing high of 14,164.53, reached a year ago today.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading UK shares rose, then slid back into the red, ending down 238.53, or 5.2 percent, at 4,366.69. France's CAC-40 settled down 235.33 points, or 6.3 percent lower, at 3,496.89, while Germany's DAX fell 313.01 points, or 5.9 percent, to 5,013.62.

Around the world yesterday:

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND

Iceland plunged further into financial crisis as it scrapped plans to nationalize a major bank, Glitnir, instead placing it into receivership, and abandoned attempts to put a floor under its falling currency by fixing the exchange rate. Adding to Iceland's woes, the British government said that it planned to sue over lost deposits held by tens of thousands of Britons with Icelandic bank accounts. The global credit crisis has exacted a heavy toll on Iceland.

LONDON

Hard-hit British banking stocks recovered after the government announced an $88 billion plan to partly nationalize major banks and promised to guarantee a further $438 billion of bank loans to shore up the beleaguered sector. But the drastic moves failed to soothe wildly fluctuating markets, and many shares ended the day sharply lower. Prime Minister Gordon Brown billed it as a "radical" plan to stabilize banks so that they could resume normal lending and other operations, rather than trying to buy up bad assets as the United States is doing. The Bank of England made at least $350 billion in short-term loans available to banks to help restore liquidity to the frozen credit market.

MOSCOW

Trading on both Russian stock markets was halted after shares plunged within an hour of opening on fears the credit crisis will take a heavy toll on growth. MICEX, where most trading takes place, was shut until tomorrow after it dropped more than 14 percent to 637.9 points in the first half-hour of trading. The RTS index — which has lost more than 69 percent since its May peak — has been shut down until further notice. It fell 11.3 percent in the first half-hour, dropping to 761.6 points.

BEIJING

China cut its key interest rate for the second time in less than a month. It cut the rate on a one-year loan by 0.27 percentage points to 6.93 percent, adding to official efforts to revive slowing economic growth and help struggling exporters. Beijing also will increase the pool of money available for lending by reducing the amount that Chinese banks must hold in reserve, the central bank said. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 3.04 percent, or 65.61 points, to close at 2,092.22 yesterday. Today it dropped another 16.40 points. The Shenzhen Composite Index for China's smaller second market declined 2.64 percent to 570.65 yesterday. Today it dropped another 8.04 points, or 1.41 percent.

TOKYO

Japan's stock market plummeted 9.4 percent yesterday — its biggest one-day drop in 21 years — as investors rushed for the exits on deepening fears over the global financial crisis. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index nose-dived 952.58 points to 9,203.32, a five-year low. That was its third-biggest drop in percentage terms and the largest plunge since October 1987. Toyota's shares fell nearly 12 percent on concerns about its earnings amid a slump in the vital U.S. car market. Today, the Nikkei rebounded, but still slipped another 45.83 points.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES

Philippine shares have tumbled for the fourth straight session on mounting concerns over the fallout from the U.S. financial crisis. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 116.45 points, or 4.8 percent, at 2,307.74 yesterday. Today it fell another 19.30 points.

MUMBAI, INDIA

Indian markets tumbled as investors across Asia dumped stocks on fears that a global recession is brewing. The benchmark Sensex sank 366.88 points, or 3.14 percent, to 11,328.36, with consumer goods and information technology companies leading the decline. The market rallied in the afternoon after hitting an interday low of 10,740.76.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Australia's stock market plummeted nearly 5 percent. Its benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed down 230.6 points, or 4.99 percent, to 4,388.1 yesterday. The drop wiped out a 1.72 percent gain on Tuesday after the country's central bank cut its key interest rate by 1 percentage point. Today, the ASX200 fell another 67.2 points. In New Zealand, the NZX-50 index closed down 55.88 points or 1.9 percent, to 2,948.31 yesterday, after finishing Tuesday down 1.5 percent at 3,004.19. Today, it closed down another 3.92 points, to 2,944.40.

HONG KONG

Hong Kong's de facto central bank says it will cut the benchmark interest rate by 1 percentage point to encourage lending amid the global credit crunch. Hong Kong Monetary Authority said it will slash the interest rates to 2.5 percent from 3.5 percent starting today. Also in Hong Kong, hundreds of angry investors in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. protested in Hong Kong yesterday to demand a full refund of their investment backed by the failed U.S. bank.

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

Investors panicked again across Latin America, prompting central banks to sell billions of dollars in reserves to prop up local currencies while stocks dove in a third straight day of extremely volatile trading. Chile's IPSA was leading losses in late afternoon trading, down 4.8 percent to 2,223, and Brazil's Ibovespa closed down 3.9 percent to 38,594 — its lowest close since Oct. 9, 2006. Colombia's IGPC index was down 3.2 percent to 8,411 in late afternoon trading, while Argentina's Merval was off 1.8 percent to 1,359. Mexico's IPC index fell 1 percent to 20,679. Brazil's real sank to a new two-year intraday trading low of 2.5 per U.S. dollar.